Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder’s October 13, 2024 statement said: “At the direction of the President, Secretary (Lloyd) Austin has authorized the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of US military personnel . to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks on Israel on April 13 and again on October 1. The THAAD battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system. This action underscores the firm commitment of the United States to the defense of Israel and to defend Americans in Israel from any further ballistic missile attack by Iran. It is part of broader adjustments the US military has made in recent months to support Israel’s defense and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iran-aligned militias.”

This is not the first time the United States has deployed a THAAD battery in the region. The US president ordered the military to deploy a THAAD battery to the Middle East last year after the October 7 attacks to defend US troops and interests in the region. The United States previously deployed a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 for training and an integrated air defense exercise. Two US C-17 military transports have already flown from Alabama to the Israeli Air Force’s Nevatim base overnight, presumably carrying THAAD equipment. It is important to understand the THAAD system and what the other air defense systems are with Israel.

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is an American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-, intermediate-, and medium-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase (descent or re-entry). The THAAD interceptor carries no warhead, instead relying on its kinetic impact energy to destroy the incoming missile. THAAD is designed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles during the “terminal phase” of their flight – the final stage before impact. This system can target missiles both inside and outside the atmosphere (endoatmospheric and exoatmospheric).

Many figures are classified. According to OSINT, the THAAD missile weighs 900 kg, is 6.17 m long, and the booster has a diameter of 340 mm (booster) and 370 mm for the destruction vehicle. It uses a Pratt & Whitney solid propellant single-stage rocket. The operating range is 200 kilometers and the flight ceiling is 150 km. The maximum speed is 10,000 km/h (Mach 8.2).

A unique feature of the system is that it does not carry explosive warheads. Instead, it destroys targets using kinetic energy, meaning it hits incoming missiles with force rather than detonating a warhead. The guidance system is an indium-antimonide imaging infrared seeker with direct hit accuracy.

THAAD was developed after the experience of Scud missile attacks in Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor. THAAD flight tests began in April 1995. After many failed tests, the first successful intercepts were conducted on 10 June 1999 and 2 August 1999 against Hera missiles. Key subcontractors include Raytheon, Boeing, Honeywell and BAE Systems, among others.

A THAAD battery consists of at least six truck-mounted launchers, each equipped with eight missiles (48 total), a fire control and communications unit, two mobile tactical operations centers (TOCs) and the AN/TPY ground-based radar -2. . The acquisition cost $800 million per battery. Permanent THAAD sites have blast-hardened command posts with 3 levels of blast doors.

THAAD has been deployed in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Romania and South Korea. Both China and Russia have opposed the deployment of THAAD in South Korea. This would erode the nuclear deterrent of China, which has a much smaller stockpile compared to the United States and Russia. On 17 January 2022, THAAD made its first operational interception of a Houthi medium-range ballistic missile in the United Arab Emirates.

THAAD operators and deployments

In addition to mainland defense, the United States has deployed a THAAD unit to Hawaii, Guam, and Wake Island in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. Saudi Arabia ordered THAAD in a $15 billion deal. Seven fire units each with a Raytheon AN/TPY-2 radar, two mobile tactical stations (with two spares for a total of 16), six launchers (with two spares for a total of 44) and 360 interceptor missiles. The Japanese government has shown interest but has yet to choose to go ahead. Oman has announced an agreement to purchase the THAAD air defense system. However, a sale has not been announced.

There was a plan to put THAAD in Taiwan. The island was a geopolitical hotbed. Taiwan’s existing early warning system, built by the maker of the THAAD radar, can serve to counter China’s missile launches. In fact, there are only three operators: the US, Saudi Arabia and Oman. In the rest of the places, they are US-owned systems. The US has 7 THAAD batteries, which will expand to 8 batteries in the future.

THAAD-ER

Lockheed Martin has begun developing an extended-range variant (THAAD-ER) through internal funding to counter the maturing threat posed by hypersonic glide vehicles that adversaries may deploy, namely the Chinese WU-14, for to penetrate the gap between low- and high-altitude missile defense. . The current 37cm diameter single-stage propellant design has been extended to a 53cm first stage for greater range with a second “hitting stage” to reduce the distance to the target and provide a improved burnout speed and more lateral movement during an engagement. The killing vehicle needed no redesign. The ground launcher would only have five missiles instead of eight.

Israeli air defense systems

The Arrow is a family of Israeli anti-ballistic missiles jointly financed and produced by Israel and the United States. Development of the system began in 1986 and has continued since then. Made by the MALAM division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, it is overseen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the US Missile Defense Agency. It forms the long-range layer of Israel’s multi-layered missile defense system, along with David’s Sling (medium to long range), Iron Dome (medium to short range) and Iron Beam (directed energy under development).

The Arrow system consists of joint production Arrow supersonic anti-missile interceptors, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3, Elta EL/M-2080 “Green Pine” and “Great Pine” AESA early warning radars, Elisra “Golden Citron” C3I. and the “Brown Hazelnut” IAI launch control center. The system is mobile and can be moved to other prepared sites.

The upper-level spaceflight portion of Israel’s missile defense, Arrow 3, was declared operational on January 18, 2017. Arrow 3 operates at higher speeds, longer range, and higher altitudes than Arrow 2, intercepting missiles ballistics during their spaceflight portion. trajectory. The Arrow 3 can serve as an anti-satellite weapon, which would make Israel one of the few countries in the world capable of shooting down satellites.

Israel’s Iron Dome system is not specifically an anti-ballistic missile system, as it is primarily intended to counter unguided rockets and artillery shells, rather than guided missiles on trajectories that take them above the Earth’s atmosphere, re-entering at extreme speeds . Iron Dome uses principles that are similar to a real anti-ballistic missile system to intercept short-range missiles and slower-moving artillery projectiles using the Tamir missile at ranges of up to 70 km and altitudes of up to 10 km. Iron Dome also has an anti-aircraft capability.

Other major anti-ballistic missile systems

Other major deployed anti-ballistic missile systems include the US MIM-104 Patriot (160 km range), China’s HQ-9B (250 km), India’s Advanced Air Defense (200 km), Norway and the United States’ NASAMS (National) . Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) (120 km), Russia’s S-300, S-400 and S-500 (600 km), Taiwan’s Sky Bow Ballistic Missile Defense System (200 km), L-SAM south- Korean (long-range surface-to-air missile (Block II 120 km), Iran’s Bavar-373 (200 km) and India’s underdeveloped Kusha project (350 km).

The US Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) has investigated a variety of missile defense strategies, many involving exotic technologies such as the X-ray lasers envisioned by Project Excalibur or the Brilliant Pebbles kinetic destruction satellite system. None of the more exotic systems were pursued for prototyping.

Long before

Space and near space have a lot of action. The number of players with large stockpiles of ballistic missiles is increasing. Typically, a medium power like Iran has close to 3,000 ballistic missiles. All significant powers are developing and building large anti-ballistic missile (ABM) capabilities. Many countries have also demonstrated anti-satellite (ASAT) capability.

On October 26, Israel finally carried out a “precision strike” on Iran in retaliation for the October 1 missile attack. The US is moving a THAAD system to Israel. In deploying THAAD, the US underlines its “strong commitment to the defense of Israel”. The US already has maritime ABM capability in the region.

President Joe Biden has opposed any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as well as its oil or energy infrastructure, amid fears it would trigger a spiraling conflict and damage the global economy. Many West Asian countries have secured themselves with ABM systems. Interestingly, Ukraine has long requested a THAAD battery to defend itself against Russia, but has been denied.

THAAD provides a rapid deployment capability against ballistic missiles. Using hit-to-kill technology to destroy threat missiles, THAAD can defend a larger area than the older PATRIOT air and missile defense system. THAAD will add greatly to Israel’s already formidable anti-missile defenses. The battery will be accompanied by 100 soldiers. Analysts warned that it would be a legitimate target. But Iran does not want to come into direct conflict with the US.

While the export model of the PATRIOT is estimated to cost nearly $1 billion, THAAD’s price for a single battery is estimated to be around $2.5 billion. Interestingly, a battery of S-400 had cost India almost a billion dollars. With a huge ballistic missile inventory with China, India needs to have a significant ABM capability and numbers to cover large areas of the country. These are crucial for defense and deterrence.

The writer is the former director general of the Center for Air Power Studies. The opinions expressed in the piece above are personal and solely the author’s. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost.